1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrolyzer cells and more particularly to reversible electrodes for solid oxide electrolyzer cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fuel cells are expected to play an important role in ensuring our energy security and may be an important component to establishing a “hydrogen economy.” Recent efforts have been dedicated to developing and implementing a commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell technology to power cars, trucks, homes, businesses, and the like, in order to reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil. Fuel cells also have the potential to reduce or eliminate harmful emissions generated by conventional power sources such as internal combustion engines.
Unlike many hydrocarbons, molecular hydrogen is not available in centralized natural reservoirs. Moreover, the present infrastructure for production, storage, and delivery of hydrogen is currently vastly inadequate to support a hydrogen economy. Transition to hydrogen use would require altering current industrial and transportation practices on an enormous scale.
Due to the expense and problems associated with hydrogen storage and transportation, some have advocated a more distributed approach to hydrogen production. For example, small regional plants, local filling stations, or even home-based generators could be used to produce hydrogen using energy provided through the electrical distribution grid. While this may lower generation efficiency compared to a centralized generation approach, it may increase overall efficiency when considering all the costs and energy requirements needed to deliver hydrogen to the end user.
Currently, a “reversible” fuel cell offers one potential solution for generating both electricity and hydrogen (or synthesis gas) using a single device. A reversible fuel cell may be used to generate electricity, when operated in fuel cell mode, and hydrogen (or synthesis gas) when operated in electrolysis mode. A reversible fuel cell can be used to produce electricity as needed but may also utilize excess capacity of the electrical grid during off-peak hours to produce hydrogen fuel. This fuel may be used at a later time during periods of high electrical demand or to power a vehicle or other device. A reversible fuel cell also has the potential to reduce costs significantly by converting electricity to hydrogen and hydrogen to electricity using a single device. Nevertheless, to achieve commercial success, the reversible cell must produce hydrogen with enough efficiency to be competitive with other means of production.
While various studies have shown that reversible fuel cells are feasible, it has also been shown that electrodes that perform well in fuel cell mode typically do not perform as well in electrolysis mode, and vice versa. For example, one study demonstrated that a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) comprising a negative electrode containing Ni and YSZ and a positive electrode containing LSM significantly outperformed a solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) using the same electrode materials. In contrast, an SOEC with a platinum negative electrode and an LSCo-containing positive electrode showed lower polarization losses than an SOFC using the same electrode materials. Yet another study demonstrated that, using typical SOFC materials, polarization losses during electrolysis operation were greater than those for fuel cell operation for both electrodes. This study also demonstrated that the polarization increase at reduced temperature was greater in electrolysis mode than in fuel cell mode.
In view of the foregoing, what are needed are electrodes that perform equally well in both fuel cell and electrolysis modes. Such electrodes may be used to provide a reversible fuel/electrolyzer cell which is efficient in either mode of operation. Ideally, the electrodes would exhibit similar polarization and other characteristics in both fuel cell and electrolysis modes of operation.